Sports Talk Philly: Philadelphia Sports News and Rumors

Flyers Free Agency Could Be More About RFAs

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The free agency negotiation period has been open since Sunday and it is generally a time of speculation more than anything. Any reports of signings likely will not start to surface until the weekend and cannot become official until Monday.

For the Flyers, this free agency period may be less about new additions and more about re-signing restricted free agents instead. With notable contracts awaiting Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny and approximately $17 million in cap space available, the Flyers focus has to be on retaining these players within the cap that they have available.

It makes for a very different approach to free agency than expected. When the 2018-19 season ended, the belief was that the Flyers would try to get deals done with their own free agents first, then attack the trade market and free agency with the remaining cap space. Instead, Chuck Fletcher got active early, worked several trades to acquire players for next season.

Is it possible the Flyers are done making new additions? That could be the case.

Games to Look Forward to in the Flyers 2019-20 Season

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Last week, the home openers were officially announced, leaving us with two known dates on the Flyers 2019-20 schedule -- the season opener against the Blackhawks in Prague, Czech Republic on Oct. 4 and the home opener in Philadelphia on Oct. 9.

On Tuesday, the rest of the schedule was released. The entire schedule can be viewed here, but here are 10 games that you should look forward to this upcoming season.

Flyers Issue Qualifying Offers to Provorov, Konecny, Laughton

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers reached an agreement with one restricted free agent on Monday and traded another, signing Travis Sanheim and dealing Ryan Hartman to Dallas. That still left four restricted free agents to sign at the NHL level and a handful at the AHL level as well.

The Flyers announced on Tuesday that they have extended qualifying offers to four players -- defenseman Ivan Provorov and forwards Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.

Two other pending restricted free agents, Justin Bailey and Jacob Graves, did not receive qualifying offers, making them unrestricted free agents as of July 1.

It is almost certain that Provorov ($874,125) and Konecny ($874,125) will not accept the qualifying offers and work on larger and more extensive deals. The qualifying offer allows the Flyers to retain RFA rights through July 1 to work on a new deal.

Laughton ($1.05 million) will also likely not accept and pursue a more substantial deal. Aube-Kubel ($761,250) is the most likely to accept his qualifying offer.

Could the Flyers Reunite with Wayne Simmonds?

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

It’s been a busy offseason already for the Flyers and things could get busier in the coming days.

The Flyers opened the week with two moves, first re-signing defenseman Travis Sanheim to a two-year, $6.5 million deal, then trading forward Ryan Hartman to Dallas for forward Tyler Pitlick. The two moves leave the Flyers with $17.1 million in cap space with less than a week until free agency opens and a long to-do list still to go.

They still have to sign Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny to new deals that won’t be cheap. They have to sign restricted free agents Scott Laughton and Justin Bailey. They have to sign a backup goalie, whether Cam Talbot or Brian Elliott or someone else. And they still have an opening at third-line wing.

Assuming that most of the remaining cap space will go into the new contracts for Provorov and Konecny, it leaves the Flyers with limited room to spend in free agency. Which brings about an interesting possibility, stemming from this tweet from Roger Dicklund, who is a former NHL scout. Could Wayne Simmonds return to the Flyers on a cap-friendly deal?

Sources indicating this morning that there is mutual interest between the #LetsGoFlyers and free agent Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds loved his time in Philadelphia and would be open to a return. #Flyers

— Roger Dicklund (@Dicklund1) June 24, 2019

 

The Daily Flyer: June 25, 2019

Join Kevin Durso for The Daily Flyer, a day-to-day look at Flyers hockey throughout the season.

In this episode, a review of the NHL Draft as well as some of the trades and the way the offseason is being perceived. 

Subscribe to the Flyerdelphia Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher and YouTube.

Flyers Trade F Ryan Hartman to Dallas for F Tyler Pitlick

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

It may be a new week, but Chuck Fletcher continues to work the trade market and made another move on Monday.

The Flyers traded forward Ryan Hartman to the Dallas Stars for forward Tyler Pitlick, Fletcher announced on Monday afternoon.

Flyers Re-Sign D Travis Sanheim to 2-Year Deal

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers have already made a lot of changes to the roster this offseason through trades and the signing of free-agent Kevin Hayes after acquiring his rights. They still had six restricted free agents to sign as the week leading to free agency began.

The first of those players has signed. Defenseman Travis Sanheim has re-signed with the Flyers on a two-year deal worth $6.5 million, an average annual value of $3.25 million.

Flyers Announce 2019 Development Camp Roster, Schedule

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The NHL Draft saw seven new prospects join the Flyers organization. The first chance to see the top picks comes this week, when the Flyers open up development camp for prospects.

This is not only a chance to see the newest draft picks, but also top picks of years past as well. In total, 41 prospects will be part of the development camp that will run over five days from Tuesday, June 25 to Saturday, June 30.

Fletcher's 1st Draft with Flyers Turns Out to Be a Good One

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

It's GM Chuck Fletcher's first offseason with the Flyers, and it's safe to say he hasn't pulled all the right strings to please fans starving for competitive hockey. Trading for the rights to Kevin Hayes and signing him to a seven-year deal, and making two more trades for Matt Niskanen and Justin Braun are not moves that move the needle and generate a whole lot of interest up front for a fan base that feels like they have seen this episode before.

So on Friday night when 72-goal scorer Cole Caufield fell into Fletcher's lap not only at the 11th overall pick, but again at 14th after a trade, there was understandable disappointment when the Flyers selected defenseman Cam York instead of the exciting prospect in Caufield.

For fans, it was another strike. But to a lot of people in the business, it was a home run. York is regarded as arguably the second-best defenseman in the draft behind Bowen Byram, who was selected fourth overall, and gives the Flyers a new headliner on the blue line in the prospect pool with so many prospects having graduated to the NHL.

Flyers Draft Pick Scouting Report: Day 2 Picks

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers entered Day 2 with eight picks, but ended up adding six prospects after making a couple of Day 2 trades.

The Flyers day started by trading up with the Nashville Predators to the 34th overall pick, sending the 45th and 65th overall picks to Nashville. With the pick, they selected winger Bobby Brink.

In the third round with the 72nd overall pick, the Flyers selected defenseman Ronald Attard. In the fourth round, the Flyers picked defenseman Mason Millman at 103rd overall.

The Flyers had two more picks in the sixth round, choosing forward Egor Serdyuk at 165th overall and goalie Roddy Ross with the 169th overall pick.

The Flyers also had two picks in the seventh round, but only used one, taking forward Bryce Brodzinski with the 196th pick. They traded the 201st overall pick to Montreal for a 2020 seventh-round pick, marking the third straight season that has happened.

Now that you know the names, here are scouting reports on the six new prospects.